With all the recent media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the good news is that the idea of loving and serving our neighbors has been revived. The bad news, of course, is that it has taken such tragedy to make us really think about loving our neighbors….

Though it has been heartwarming to see people respond with compassion to the needs of those most affected by the recent hurricanes and other disasters, we have to ask ourselves Why does it take a hurricane or some massive tragedy to move us? Places like New Orleans have been ripe for mercy ministry for years. Places with the highest crime rates, the worst schools, the largest number of abandoned women and children – they have been filled with the needy for a long, long time. Their spiritual and emotional needs have been crying out, but except for a few courageous souls, we in the church have largely left them in their poverties.

People in need surround us… the poor, the infirm, the grief-stricken, the frightened, the downtrodden. Throughout the gospels, we see time after time, that Jesus “took notice” of those in need. How do we become imitators of our Lord and learn to take notice, and then how to respond once the needs are unveiled?

If you really want to know, you MUST read this month’s recommended book. Rev. Timothy Keller, the Senior Minister of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, and former Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America, has written for us a Christian’s Primer focused on Ministries of Mercy, subtitled, The Call of the Jericho Road. The book is divided evenly into two comprehensive sections: Principles and Practices.

Using the paradigm of The Good Samaritan who “risked his safety, destroyed his schedule, and became dirty and bloody through personal involvement with a needy person,” the author states that “perhaps we need to see that instead of living on islands of ease, we are all living on the Jericho Road,” reminding us that this parable was Jesus’ answer to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Mercy ministry is part of the very essence of being a Christian. The introduction details the scope of mercy ministry and paints a picture for us of its many faces, answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The motive behind our deeds of mercy is then examined throughout the first section of the book as Rev. Keller deals with the PRINCIPLES of the call to mercy, the character of that mercy, motivations for ministry, a balanced life of mercy, the question of “conditions” in which mercy must be shown, and the necessity for our testimonies to be shown forth in word and deed to a needy world.

This first section of the book should be read by or taught to every believer, as it is a thorough introduction to our calling to be ministers of mercy individually as well as corporately. Not only do we live on the Jericho road, but “The church of Jesus Christ must squarely face its responsibility for the neighbors lying in the road.” Actions of mercy on behalf of our neighbors are as “fundamental to Christian living as evangelism, nurture, and worship.”

The second half of the book is all about PRACTICE. He shows us how to get started on the front lines with our families, churches, para-church organizations and even the government as channels of mercy by building bridges, “neighboring”, loving and encouraging as we keep an eye open for opportunities to reach out. Rev. Keller suggests that oftentimes “We are not willing to consider the bleeding man on our road until he bites us on the ankle.” We need to learn to be watchful.

Entire chapters are devoted to the subjects of preparing the church, outlines for mobilizing the church, and models for expanding our vision. He then gives us details about managing those ministries once we get going. Finally he shows us that making the gospel visible through deeds of love and mercy, intertwined with evangelism, is the thing that causes the church to grow.

If you are serious about responding to Sovereign opportunities, I urge you to read this book and then pass it around to everyone in your church. Teach it if you can. Use it to instruct your mind and impassion your heart toward active obedience. As mature Christians, our most visible witness in the world is not half as blurred by our sins of commissions as our sins of omission. When we fail to demonstrate love in His name and a willingness to go and do, to put ourselves out, to lose our lives for His sake. When we grasp the powerful potential of that kind of obedience, the world may begin to see past us to the Glory of God, which is our ultimate purpose!